BOOK REVIEW: BIG QUESTIONS, WORTHY DREAMS
by Molly Widdicombe, University of Idaho
(reprinted from the Winter WADE/NWCRLA Newsletter with permission from Molly Widdicombe)
Sharon Daloz-Parks knows her stuff. Her “stuff” encompasses a broad range of topics
including: faith, making meaning, mentoring, and belonging. At first I found Daloz-
Parks’ book, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams, reminiscent of my philosophy textbooks
that tried to bring meaning to the human existence. If you did not “get it” then
something was surely wrong with your psyche. I felt my throat tighten and my chest
heave huge sighs, but quickly I relaxed and began to enjoy the author’s style of
weaving concepts, definitions, and personal stories into her chapters. When I read this
book, I “got it.”
Big Questions, Worthy Dreams incorporates theory and practice related to
understanding human development from an educator’s point of view. The author is
informative and inquisitive. She tackles topics that verge on religious, but from such a
secular viewpoint that anyone can participate in the discussion without feeling
pressure. Daloz-Parks does this in particular with her description of faith. She looks
at the many forms of faith to broaden our traditional concepts.
Beyond faith, Daloz-Parks wants us to understand belonging. She uses the term
“coming home” to help us identify that notion of the need to belong. Young adults, in
particular, need to find that place where they can identify themselves among peers.
That is becoming increasingly difficult. I identified with the author’s sense of crisis for
the young adult population who is being asked to belong to “the world” in the broadest
sense of the word. Faith, she says, is the key.
Daloz-Parks identified several well-known psychologists and philosophers who have
asked similar questions to hers: “How do we make meaning?” For Daloz-Parks, the
meaning making stems from the questions we ask. In the section on the mentoring
environment, she develops these as questions of meaning, purpose, and faith. Young
adults are not being faced with enough of these “big questions” (138).
I appreciated the author’s view of mentoring as a gift we bear to others. Sometimes I
know I see this role as a burden, and that is a very condescending attitude on my part.
Daloz-Parks further describes these mentoring communities near the end of the book.
I could identify in some way with each of these communities. They reminded me of my
young adulthood, and the many ways in which I was mentored.
Big Questions, Worthy Dreams is not a feel-good quick read. Instead, it is a read-a-
little-think-a-lot book. I have not come across another selection that was as personally
interesting and professionally applicable. I would recommend this book to any one
who encounters students in class, tutoring lab, or through casual contact. I know it
made me rethink my role as an instructor and employer of young adults. Enjoy!